Welcome to Transfigurations! This blog is intended to serve the orthodox Anglican community and the wider Christian community. We pray that all that is posted here will be faithful to the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, speak the truth in love, edify, bless and transform this local body of Christ, and be an impetus for revival, repentance, prayer and intercession!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Spreading Scent of Cologne; Anger in Austria As Christian Hymn Renamed...more

The Spreading Scent of Cologne
The city of Cologne, still famous for its scented water, has become, since last New Year's Eve, best known for the depredations and misogyny of a growing population of immigrants from North Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere. The events of that evening, when hundreds of women were assaulted, manhandled, and even raped by thousands of migrant newcomers who could not be restrained by the police, spread across the world in days if not hours.

At first, the police played down the seriousness of the incidents, but by January 10th, the BBC reported that the number of criminal cases had risen to 516, forty percent of which were related to sexual assault. According to German police, "Asylum seekers and illegal migrants from North Africa comprise the majority of suspects." This has been confirmed by Germany's interior ministry, which has stated that almost all those involved were migrants...

The Austrian parent of one child at the Muslim majority school in Oberösterreich complained after he found the handout given to his daughter with the words and musical notation for the popular German children’s hymn ‘Gottes liebe ist so wunderbar’ (God’s love is so wonderful) had been edited and photocopied with new lyrics...

The links below are a series of excellent articles by Bruce Ashford, a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary:

What is far less certain, say public health and infectious disease experts, is Zika’s potential reach and impact here. The South is seen as vulnerable because of its warm, humid climate and pockets of poverty where more people live without air-conditioning or proper window screens. Plus, the region is already home to mosquitoes that can transmit the virus...

7 Ways to Fight Distraction During Prayer
I’ve been trying to pray more this year. But prayer does not always come easily to me. I often find (can you relate?) that I sit down to pray with the best of intentions, only to suddenly catch myself, a few moments later, daydreaming about yesterday’s conversation, tomorrow’s meeting, or next week’s vacation.

Most of us have experienced this, and the rest of us are liars!

Distraction can be a huge hindrance in our prayer life, but I am also discovering that it provides an opportunity for growth. Here are seven strategies for fighting distraction, and harnessing it to deepen and direct our prayers... Excellent!This new technology will revolutionize how we connect to the internet The future of wireless internet just happened, and it came out of nowhere.